The Intersection of Star Culture in America and International Medical Tourism

Celebrity Treatment

Kathy Merlock Jackson; Lisa Lyon Payne and Kathy Shepherd Stolley

Celebrity culture, health care, and travel attract attention in America’s media-saturated society. These worlds curiously intersect in the study of medical tourism. Although the US touts some of the finest and best-known medical facilities in the world, many jet-setting A-list celebrities, who can well afford the finest of health care, seek treatment far away from home, popularizing international sites, physicians, and procedures. These travelers, whose every move is chronicled by the media, both reflect and influence health care concerns in America. An analysis of these high-profile cases of celebrities with both life-threatening and non life-threatening conditions sheds light on the link between medical tourism and celebrity, showing how health care and entertainment intersect, and the American public responds.

The Intersection of Star Culture in America and International Medical Tourism: Celebrity Treatment argues that celebrity cases and media content drive awareness of medical tourism among Americans at a time when the medical system is under intense scrutiny. By popularizing international sites for treatment, procedures not available in the US, and different approaches to patient care, media narratives present options for health care, triggering dialogue on one of America’s most important human welfare issues.

Lexington Books

Pages: 250 • Trim: 6¼ x 9½

978-0-7391-8687-9 • Hardback • December 2015 • $121.00 • (£93.00)

978-0-7391-8688-6 • eBook • December 2015 • $115.00 • (£88.00)

Subjects: Social Science / Anthropology / Cultural, Social Science / Popular Culture, Social Science / Health Geography, Social Science / Disease & Health Issues

The Intersection of Star Culture in America and International Medical Tourism

Celebrity Treatment

Hardback

eBook

Summary

Celebrity culture, health care, and travel attract attention in America’s media-saturated society. These worlds curiously intersect in the study of medical tourism. Although the US touts some of the finest and best-known medical facilities in the world, many jet-setting A-list celebrities, who can well afford the finest of health care, seek treatment far away from home, popularizing international sites, physicians, and procedures. These travelers, whose every move is chronicled by the media, both reflect and influence health care concerns in America. An analysis of these high-profile cases of celebrities with both life-threatening and non life-threatening conditions sheds light on the link between medical tourism and celebrity, showing how health care and entertainment intersect, and the American public responds.

The Intersection of Star Culture in America and International Medical Tourism: Celebrity Treatment argues that celebrity cases and media content drive awareness of medical tourism among Americans at a time when the medical system is under intense scrutiny. By popularizing international sites for treatment, procedures not available in the US, and different approaches to patient care, media narratives present options for health care, triggering dialogue on one of America’s most important human welfare issues.

Details

Lexington Books

Pages: 250 • Trim: 6¼ x 9½

978-0-7391-8687-9 • Hardback • December 2015 • $121.00 • (£93.00)

978-0-7391-8688-6 • eBook • December 2015 • $115.00 • (£88.00)

Subjects: Social Science / Anthropology / Cultural, Social Science / Popular Culture, Social Science / Health Geography, Social Science / Disease & Health Issues

Author

Kathy Merlock Jackson is professor of communication at Virginia Wesleyan College.

Lisa Lyon Payne is associate professor and coordinator of communication at Virginia Wesleyan College.

Kathy Shepherd Stolley is professor of sociology at Virginia Wesleyan College.

Table of Contents

Preface and Acknowledgments
Introduction: Going Abroad: Leaving on a Jet Plane for Hope, Health, and Holiday
Part I: Seeking Treatment for Life-Threatening Illnesses: Cancer and AIDS Case Studies
Chapter 1: Steve McQueen: Treating Mesothelioma in Mexico
Chapter 2: Rock Hudson: AIDS Comes Out of the Closet
Chapter 3: Farrah Fawcett: Killing “Terrorists” in the Black Forest
Chapter 4: Steve Jobs: Creative Quests for a Cure
Chapter 5: Karen Black: “Help Karen Beat Cancer”
Part II: Seeking Treatment for Non-Life-Threatening Conditions: Sex Reassignment, Arthritis, Cosmetic Surgery, and Childbirth Case Studies
Chapter 6: Christine Jorgensen: “She Went Abroad and Came Back a Broad”
Chapter 7: Peyton Manning: Miracle Cures and a Little Bit of Voodoo
Chapter 8: Pope John Paul II, Nick Nolte, Kobe Bryant, and Alex Rodriguez: A Treatment from God
Chapter 9: Suzanne Somers: Growing a Breast Like the Ones in Japan
Chapter 10: Angelina Jolie: A Beautiful Body Travels the World
Part III: Spreading the Word: Short Takes on Medical Tourism in Popular Media and its Celebrity Connections
Chapter 11: 60 Minutes: Making Thailand’s Bumrungrad International Hospital Famous
Chapter 12: Sicko (2007): Michael Moore’s Transatlantic Trek for Quality Health Care
Chapter 13: Dallas Buyers Club (2013): The “Sexiest Man Alive” Is a Medical Tourist
Conclusion: Coming Home: Social and Political Ramifications of Celebrity Medical Tourism
Bibliography
About the Authors

Reviews

In The Intersection of Star Culture in America and International Medical Tourism, Jackson, Payne, and Stolley illustrate how our fascination with celebrity engages the popular imagination in personal fantasies of wealth and health. Their analysis of media A-listers who have participated in medical tourism—from Steve McQueen, Rock Hudson, and Farrah Fawcett to Christine Jorgensen, Peyton Manning, and Angelina Jolie—provides sharp insights into our fear of illness (and aging) and our hope for personal rejuvenation.
— William E. Lenz, Chatham University